The Image staff muses on the culture of keeping up appearances

Bid for a day with Nicky and Paris Hilton, or in the Dodgers' broadcast booth, to help fight MS

April 12, 2011 | 7:30
am

Generally speaking, money can't buy a day of shopping with Nicky and Paris Hilton. Or a chance to join announcers Charley Steiner and Rick Monday in the broadcast booth at a Dodgers game. But now Nancy Davis, co-chair of the April 29 Race to Erase MS, has made it possible for anyone to place a bid on these and several other one-of-a-kind prizes in the upcoming 450-item auction that is a centerpiece of her annual gala at the Century Plaza Hotel.

Davis has listed these items at online auction site, along with trips, jewelry, backstage passes to an Avril Lavigne concert, lunch with "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" and a cooking lesson from Jamie Lauren of "Top Chef," followed by dinner with friends.

"Our auction has always done amazingly well, but who knows what people at our event will want," Davis said. "This opens up the bidding to a wider audience."

Online auctions, in fact, open up bidding to the whole world, though as Glenda Luft, a spokeswoman for Charitybuzz, pointed out, "We make sure bidders are reputable." This is no small consideration, she said, as the company's previous online charity auctions have offered buyers a chance to spend time with, among others, President Clinton, the Dalai Lama and the Pope.

Though anyone can place their bids in advance, online bidding will close before the April 29 gala, which raises funds for the Nancy Davis Foundation for Multiple Sclerosis. "We want our guests to have the final say," Davis said. "It's only fair to the people who come to our event."

-- Ellen Olivier

Photo: A day with Paris, left, and Nicky Hilton is among the prizes that are up for auction to benefit Race to Erase MS. Credit: Mario Anzuoni / Reuters